Heavy rains in Punjab: Army had to be called in Mohali, Shah spoke to CM Mann, schools closed in six districts
Rain broke records in Punjab and Chandigarh. The rain that started on Saturday morning continued till Sunday evening. Punjab received 57.5 mm of rain on Saturday night and Sunday, which is 1151 percent more than the normal of 4.6 mm. At the same time, 322 mm of rain was recorded in Chandigarh in 24 hours. It has been raining heavily since Monday morning.
On July 9, it received 290.9 mm of rain, which is 6826 percent more than normal. Due to heavy rains, flood like situation has been created in many districts of Punjab including Mohali. Two people died in the province. Sukhwinder Singh, a resident of Khad Bathlog village in Noorpur Bedi, Ropar, died after falling from the soil. In the same district, a monk has died due to drowning in water in Samundadiyan village.
Flood like situation has been created in five districts Kapurthala, Patiala, Mohali, Moga and Pathankot. Rescue operations are going on in dozens of villages. Both the small and big river of Patiala have reached near the danger mark. The administration has issued a flood alert and got the houses in the low-lying areas evacuated. Army has been called in to help bring the situation under control in Mohali.
Here in Mohali's Derabassi, boats had to be called to evacuate people due to water logging in Gulmohar Housing Society. Holiday has been declared for all private and government schools in Ropar, Nawanshahr, Ferozepur, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Mohali. In Chandigarh, both the flood gates of Sukhna Lake had to be opened. 50 people stranded near Machhiwada Sahib in Ludhiana were rescued due to rise in the water level of the river.
A yellow alert has been issued in Punjab warning of heavy rains on Monday as well. Five flights had to be canceled from Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport. The Ropar-Nangal rail track has been uprooted due to floods. In Ferozepur too, the movement of trains was disrupted due to submergence of track water. The fencing of the Indo-Pak border was also broken. Railway quarters in Fatehgarh are waterlogged. In Hoshiarpur also, the administration has issued a flood alert. A portion of the Moga-Jalandhar road has been washed away in Moga. People living on the banks of rivers and canals have been alerted.
chakki bridge connecting himachal closed
An alert has been declared in Pathankot due to the Ujj river being in spate. Chakki bridge connecting Himachal has been closed. In view of the rain, Punjabi University has postponed the examinations. Flood-like situation has prevailed in three dozen villages in Kapurthala. Here the village Kalu Wala was filled with water. Water entered houses due to surge in Ludhiana's Budha drain. The roof of a house collapsed due to heavy rains in Muchhal village of Amritsar. Here a woman and three girls narrowly survived.
CM fielded all ministers, legislators, officers
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has instructed all the ministers, MLAs, all the officers including DC and SSP to go among the public. They have been asked to provide immediate relief to the people. Police and NDRF teams have also been deployed. Apart from this, the Food Supply Department has also been asked to prepare food packets.
Amit Shah spoke with respect
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and inquired about the damage caused by the heavy rains. He has also assured all possible help to both the states.
All trains canceled on Kalka-Shimla route due to landslide-fall of trees
All up and down trains were canceled for Sunday as heavy rains triggered landslides and uprooting of trees on the Kalka-Shimla railway line. The tourists left for Shimla by road. On the other hand, the railway employees were engaged in cleaning the train route. Superintendent of Kalka Railway Station Sitaram Meena said that there was a lot of debris on the Kalka-Shimla track.
